CVE-2023-46456
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn GL.iNET GL-AR300M routers with firmware 3.216 it is possible to inject arbitrary shell commands through the OpenVPN client file upload functionality.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe GL.iNET GL-AR300M router with firmware 3.216 contains a command injection vulnerability in the OpenVPN client file upload functionality. Attackers can inject arbitrary shell commands through specially crafted OpenVPN configuration files that are not properly sanitized before being passed to system shell execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 3.216CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the router modelAccess the router's admin web interface and check the device model under System > Overview or check the device label on the hardware itselfAffected if The device is not a GL.iNET GL-AR300M model
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Check the firmware versionIn the router admin interface, go to System > Firmware or About page to view the installed firmware versionAffected if The firmware version is exactly 3.216
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Verify OpenVPN client configurationNavigate to the router admin interface and check if the OpenVPN client feature is configured under VPN > OpenVPN ClientAffected if An OpenVPN client profile is configured and enabled on the router
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Check OpenVPN config file upload accessLook for the OpenVPN configuration file upload functionality in the VPN > OpenVPN Client section of the admin interfaceAffected if The file upload feature for OpenVPN configurations is present and accessible
You are affected if you are running a GL-AR300M router with firmware version 3.216 and have the OpenVPN client feature enabled with file upload capability accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedApply vendor-provided firmware patches when available; until then, restrict access to the router's admin interface to trusted networks only and consider disabling the OpenVPN client feature if not required.
GL-AR300M firmware newer than 3.216 (check www.gl-inet.com for latest stable release)
- 1. Visit the official GL.iNET firmware download page at www.gl-inet.com to check for available firmware updates
- 2. Look for GL-AR300M firmware versions newer than 3.216
- 3. Download the latest stable firmware release for GL-AR300M
- 4. Access the router web interface (typically at 192.168.1.1)
- 5. Navigate to the System > Firmware or Administration > Upgrade section
- 6. Upload and install the newer firmware version
- 7. After reboot, verify the router is running the updated firmware
- 8. Reconfigure OpenVPN client settings as needed
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-46456 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-46456 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data